The Indigo Knights
by Shockeye7665
Summary: Indigo Team, otherwise known as III Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51, launches the first opening shots of Belka's Eastern Front during the Belkan War, against the Republic of Fato. One Shot.


**Disclaimer: Ace Combat does not belong to me. It belongs to it's respective owners, namely Bandai Namco Entertainment.**

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_Belkan-Fatoan border, Osean Continent, Planet Earth_.  
_March 25th, 1995_.

Unlike the Belkan-Ustian border with it's mountain ranges and the occasional open plains and forests, the border with Fato was entirely consisted of open country plains, farms and forests.

But the silence was broken, when overhead, around four Dassault Mirage IIIS, decorated in a white colour scheme with dark blue stripes across the wings and fuselage (with the emblem of a knight's helmet and indigo colours stamped on the vertical stabiliser and fuselage alongside the standard Belkan Air Force emblem) and armed with two 30mm DEFA 552 cannons, two Molniya R-60 and one Vympel R-27 missiles, rushed right past the border with a thundering roar.

The flight leader, Oberstleutnant Dimitri Heinrich, scanned from left to right, obviously aware that while Fato's air force was not as large as Belka's, it was not an Air Force to laugh about.  
While it did not have as many planes as the Belkan Air Force, it still had enough to ensure continuous operations if it ever came down to a one-on-one war with each other, and it was getting larger, as it's fighter squadrons were not only equipped with the latest variants of MiG-21s, MiG-23s, Su-22s and the MiG-29, but one particular squadron, the 122nd Aviation Squadron, from the 3rd Tactical Aviation Wing, were, according to latest intelligence reports, strengthened up with the delivery of the Fato Air Force's first F-16C Fighting Falcons direct from Osea.  
Plus, it had the PZL-230 Skorpion ground attack aircraft, which was deemed by intelligence, to be a serious threat to Belka's Panzer formations.

So, the "Indigo Team" of III Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 51, would be the tip of the Belkan fist, being the first Belkan squadron to cross into Fato (minutes before several other squadrons in this first attack, against the Fatoan Air Force).  
Their objective, was to draw squadrons of the Fato Air Force out in open engagement and secure air superiority for the Belkan Army when it crossed over into Fato.  
At the same time as Unternehmen Weissbaum, Hochebene and Seeadler would commence against Ustio, Sapin and Osea, Belka would also launch a surprise attack on Fato, Gebet, Recta and Ratio as part of Unternehmen Frühling.

On the ground, Heersgruppe Ost, under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Reschke, would cross the border of Fato and aim to achieve their objective, the total capture of Fato, Gebet, Recta and Ratio, by March 30th, whilst in the air, Luftflotte 7 would be the first into battle, with the objective of achieving air supremacy against the Fatoan Air Force, the Gebeten Air Force, the Rectan Air Force and the Ratio Air Force.

Belonging to a noble family, who descended from lineage of Belkan knights that played an integral role in forging the modern Belkan state that continued to exist to this day (despite it's abject humiliation of having to lose it's former territories, and being left to suffer economic struggle and strife at the hands of Osean businessmen, who, while leaving their lives in absolute comfort and never having struggled to get to where they were, had no hesitation to backstab the fatherland in the back for profit at their own benefit), Dmitri Heinrich joined the Belkan Air Force in 1981, having made a comfortable career for himself as 'the Blue Heron', obtaining the rank of Oberstleutnant in 1988 (some might have suggested that it was mainly due to the ruling party's desire to have many of the aristocrats in top officer positions in the military, but Dimitri always denied this, stating that he had earned his position through skill) and was now comfortable in his position as flight lead of the "Indigo Team".

Known also otherwise as the 'Indigo Order of Belka' or the 'Indigo Knights', harking back to the time of feudal Belka, of when distinguished brotherhoods of Belkan knights and knightly orders were at the forefront of Belkan military might, the rest of the Indigo Team was consisted of three other pilots.

Heinrich's number two, Major Berti Backenbauer, was also from a prominent Belkan family with a long history, dating back to the 19th Century. His great-grandfather Adolf, flew Fokker triplanes in the Osean War, and his grandfather Rudolf, flew Bf109s and Fw190s in the Second World War, while his father Gerhard, had a bit more relaxed career, flying Me262s in the midst of the 1950s and the early 1960s during the Cold War.

Indigo Team's number three, Hauptmann Mathias Overath, born in the South Belkan region, near the Osean border, and he had seeked to fly, ever since he had seen a Belkan Air Force fighter plane zooming above him when he was walking to school all the way from his small town during his childhood.  
Joining the Air Force in 1980, Mathias proved himself to be quite the pilot and had been selected to join Indigo Team after a stint in Jagdgeschwader 25.

Needless to say, Dimitri had seen his record and was impressed, so much that he extended an offer to the young man for a chance to fly as part of Indigo Team.  
Mathias accepted and he had managed to settle in quite nicely as the new Indigo 3.

The newest member of Indigo Team, Hauptmann Franz Breitner, the son of Generalmajor Helmut Breitner, commander of the 14. Panzergrenadier Division, was the youngest of them all, and had six years under his belt, flying in Jagdgeschwader 4, but Dimitri had seen potential in him and when the position was free, recruited him to fill the No. 4 position just last year.  
Time would tell if he would perform well under the pressure of war.

Turning back to scanning the horizon, Dmitri soon looked at his radar set and saw that they were fast approaching the Belkan-Fato border.  
With this, he announced to his wingmen, "Indigo 1 to all Indigo units, we are now the first Belkans of this war to cross into Fato. Arm your missiles and ready yourselves, you know your objectives. We are to draw out those Fato planes and take them down".  
"_Roger_".

And as soon as that message ended, Indigo Team were now across the border, in the airspace of the Republic of Fato.  
Dimitri then flicked the switch to arm his missiles, ready to launch them at a moment's notice. And he was certain that the others were doing the same, as well as scanning the horizon for any sign of Fato aircraft.

"Alright, everyone, keep your eyes peeled, the Fatos will undoubtably be sending someone to pay us a visit".

For around 3 minutes, the horizon was clear and the journey over the skies of Fato was starting to be a bit uneventful.  
So much so, that Dmitri feared that the Fatos were not going to show today.  
_If they decide not to show any sort of challenge to our Air Force at all, this invasion will indeed be a cakewalk_, thought Dmitri.

But then, his attention was drawn to his radar as a contact appeared on it.  
Looking on the screen, Dmitri could see the contact, on the North-west corner of the radar screen, getting closer and closer towards Indigo Team.

Then, two more blips came, following the first blip.  
Three blips, closing in fast.

_This was it_, Dmitri reckoned.  
Immediately, he got onto the radio and spoke to the whole flight, "Indigo Team, this is Indigo 1. Around six boogies inbound. They seem to be single-engined aircraft, possibly, MiG-21s. Let's split them up before they get the first shot off. Who knows if they have brains to actually use".

While the airwaves were soon flooded with chuckles that just sounded quite the opposite, affirmative responses followed, and Dmitri took the first shot by pointing the nose of his Mirage directly at the MiGs, began the process of selecting what seemed to be, the lead MiG of the six plane flight, until he got a lock-on.

And then, he fired his Vympel R-27, which dropped from the central pylon on his Mirage for a few seconds before the motor onboard the missile, kicked in and immediately rocketed out towards it's target.  
The missile got closer and closer, and despite the MiG's attempt to evade, the missile struck true, with the Fato MiG now breaking apart in a ball of flame, smoke and shrapnel.

Once this first kill was achieved, the Indigo Team were close enough now that they could get visual identification, and saw that the Fato aircraft were indeed, MiG-21s, decorated in the standard issue paint scheme of the Fato Air Force.  
And, also, Dmitri noted that the Fato aircraft were dispersing in different directions.

_That first shot must have taken out their leader_.  
_Now this makes things easier_, he thought.

Dmitri turned his head around, to look for a specific target, and found a lone MiG-21 on it's own, so he got his Mirage into position to launch another missile.  
And once he achieved it, he switched over to guns and got a perfect hit all across the fuselage and directly into the cockpit, leaving the MiG on an uncontrollable fall with no pilot alive to try and get out of it.

But as he levelled his Mirage in order to get himself to find another target, the distinct sound of a MiG-21's cannon was heard, and rounds were whizzing right near his craft.  
Narrowly relieved that they had not struck his craft, Dmitri panned his head around to see the enemy MiG having zoomed past where he had just been and now trying to level out and find another target (or maybe find him and engage).

But another Indigo team member was soon in pursuit, and Dmitri was satisfied with letting him deal with that MiG, and instead looked for another.

And he found one, making a turn.

Dmitri manoeuvred his Mirage into position and readied one of his Molniya R-60s to fire.  
Getting a lock on the MiG, Dmitri fired the missile, and the R-60 left the right pylon before rocketing out and heading straight for the heat signature it picked up, namely the target's single Tumansky R-25 turbojet engine.

The Fato pilot had attempted to fire off his flares, but he was too slow in doing so, and the R-60 slammed right into his fuselage, causing his MiG to explode in a ball of flame and debris.

Satisfied, Dmitri then panned his head around, looking for his team and the enemy, while having his craft circle the area, mindful if any more MiGs were still active, before the voice of Major Backenbauer came on the radio.

"_Indigo 2 to Indigo 1. All contacts down. Sky is clear for now_".

Taking a look around, Dmitri was satisified with Backenbauer's report, before he added, "All Indigo Team members, sound off".

"Indigo 2".  
"_Receiving you loud and clear, Indigo Leader_".  
"Indigo 3".  
"_All systems functional, craft intact. Although, I'm out of missiles, and have half ammunition for my cannons_".  
"Indigo 4".  
"_No damaged sustained. But I'm completely out of missiles. Still got my guns, though_".

Dmitri was satisified.  
"Alright then, Indigo Team. We're returning to base".

Banking his aircraft into the direction of Belka, the other Indigo members followed suite.

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**Man, this was so UNBELIEVABLY HARD to get down!  
Many, many, many apologies for the long delay, everyone!  
But nonetheless, we complete the first trio of Ace Combat Zero's enemy squadrons.**

**I was originally going to incorporate an engagement depicted in Ace Combat canon, on March 27, 1995, when Indigo Team dispatched nine Fato fighters, but I was really having trouble with this, so I decided to scrap that.**

**Choosing Indigo Team's aircraft was quite simple really. Given that the Gripen that they have in the game, is a single-engine aircraft, I needed the same, but I couldn't give them MiG-21s (It just seemed too basic of an aircraft for me to equip Indigo Squadron and plus, the Fato aircraft were already MiG-21s) or MiG-23s or even the Mirage F1 (I had already given Grun Squadron that aircraft), so the Mirage III seemed to be the best fit for Indigo Team.  
The variant used, the Mirage IIIS, is the version that was built under licence for the Swiss Air Force, but in the Strangereal world I'm building, the Mirage IIIS is built under licence in Belka.**

**So, anyways, d****on't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!**

**Update (5/1/20): Added a few line breaks in a few places that I felt, were really too bunched up.**


End file.
